This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Colorado beetle warning issued
18/04/2002
Importers, growers, gardeners, traders and consumers
were advised today to be on the look-out for the Colorado
beetle, which can seriously damage potato crops.
Colorado beetles are not indigenous to Scotland but have
entered the country in the past during spring and summer on
imported goods such as leafy vegetables, potatoes, fruit,
grain, seeds and timber. People should check their cars and
luggage when returning from abroad. A single female
escaping detection could establish a breeding colony.
The adult beetle is very distinctive measuring about
10mm in length, resembling a large ladybird in shape with
10 black stripes running down a yellowish back.
Anyone who thinks they may have found a Colorado beetle
- alive or dead - should put it in a sealed container and
take it to the nearest police station or local Scottish
Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department Area
Office together with any packaging material in which it is
found.
The Colorado beetle (
Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is a notifiable
quarantine pest under the Plant Health (Great Britain)
Order 1993. It is also one of the two harmful organisms for
which the UK has been designated a protected zone under the
EC Single Market arrangements for plant health.
No breeding colony has been found in the UK since 1976
when the colony was eradicated.
Potato growers, including gardeners, are urged to
inspect their crops for larvae of the Colorado beetle.
These are between three and ten millimetres long with black
heads and feet, and bodies that range from cherry red to
pale orange with small black dots along each side. They
move freely and feed on potato foliage, or other
solanaceous weeds, defoliating from the leaf margins and
leaving oily black excreta. Colorado beetle larvae should
not be mistaken for pupae of the ladybird, which are
similar in shape and colour but do not move.